In motor vehicle construction, but also in many other areas of application where a minimum weight has to be met along with specific requirements for the mechanical properties of a component, it is often necessary, if the component is to be of the optimum design, for the mechanical properties of the blank or sheet from which the component is produced to vary. In the production of components from steel, in particular of structural components for motor vehicles, the use of so-called “tailored blanks” is known, where the components are produced from a blank which in turn consist of two sheets having different mechanical properties which are connected together on their face sides. In this way, as a result of the thickness varying while the grade of steel remains the same, it is for example possible to provide a higher strength in the region where the thickness is greater. Also, if the thickness of the material is kept the same, it is possible for one section of sheet to be produced from higher strength steel and for it to be welded to a less strong grade of steel of the same thickness. However, the production of tailored blanks is costly and complicated and requires additional steps in the operation including, amongst others, a laser welding step. As well as this, it is also known for there to be produced from hot-rolled strip, by flexible hot rolling but also by flexible cold rolling, hot-rolled or cold-rolled strip in the respective cases whose thickness varies section by section and which has differing mechanical properties in the specific regions due to the varying thickness. What is problematic about this process is that a strip whose thickness varies presents problems in handling and, this being the case, problems arise in the steps which have to be carried out in a process for manufacturing a component. A process of this kind is known for example from German published patent application DE 100 41 280 A1.
The object underlying the present invention is therefore to provide metal strip from which components of minimum weight which are adapted to specific loads can be produced with little cost or complication. The aim is also to propose a method of producing the metal strip, a blank produced from the metal strip and the specific use of the blank.